Muslim Minorities and Citizenship: Authority, Islamic Communities and Shari'a Law

The issues of citizenship, identity, and cohesion have rarely been as vital as they are today. Since the events of 9/11 and subsequent terrorist episodes in Bali, Madrid, London, and elsewhere, focus in this area has centered primarily upon Muslim minority communities living in the West. This book examines the question of citizenship and loyalty, drawing on the historical contexts of Muslim minorities living under British and French imperial rule in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and looks at how shari'a functioned within the context of imperial civil code. It draws important comparisons that are of immense relevance today, and engages with current debates about the compatibility of Islamic law with civil law in non-Islamic societies. Engaging with both Muslim minority and government perspectives, this is important reading for scholars, students, commentators, and policy-makers concerned with the question of Western engagement with its own minorities.

Sean Oliver-Dee is an Associate Research Fellow at the London School of Theology and the Associate Researcher for the Church of England Representative to the EU.

Introduction * Historical and Theological Background * Theology of Shar?’a and its Historical Development. * Anglo-French Imperial interaction with Islam: Historical Contextualisation * Government and Authority in Islam * Muslim citizens and the authority of the secular state * From Ijtihad to Khilafah state: The Notion of the Muslim Community * On what level should the notion of the Muslim community function? * The Introduction of Shari’a into British Imperial India: Issues and Questions * French Imperial Interaction with Shari’a * Conclusions